Before you can successfully manage your files, you must define your users and use cases—who will be using the files and in what scenarios? Answering the following questions will help you to design a file management system that meets your users' needs.
Who will have access to the files? Just you? People in your team or organization? People outside your work group?
It's crucial to consider who will be using the files in your system, especially if you are not the sole user. Not everyone has the same background information as you, and different people use different methods and mental shortcuts when looking for files.
Are the files for use by current members of your team? What about future members of your organization, or even future researchers?
Depending on their content and the context of their creation, files may be for temporary or perpetual use. Your organization may have specific retention requirements. Some files may be archived for use by researchers in the future. Well-organized files will facilitate current and future uses.
To locate files, will your users browse directories, perform keyword searches, or both? To identify and select relevant files, will they rely on folder names, file names, or both? Are they likely to sort folder contents?
Users are likely to use a combination of discovery methods. It's important to organize and name your folders and files in a way that accounts for different search strategies.
Consultations are also available by request.
Megan O'Donnell, Research Data Services Lead
Heather Campbell, Head of Metadata Services
The library's collections and services are available to all ISU students, faculty, and staff and Parks Library is open to the public.
